Tag: prayer

Look at the Birds

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

It’s hard not to be anxious about our world today.  We have a list of huge issues which continue to grow around us – the growing rate of suicide, politics, the economy, mental illness, our education system – just to name a few.

Most of these things we can’t do anything about.  They are out of our control.

So we worry.

Jesus tells us today in Matthew 10 to look at the birds.  “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside of your Father’s care. And even the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” verses 29-31.

Yes, I am more valuable.

So are you.

We are created in the image of God.  We are the best part of his creation.

I know God cares for me much more than the birds.  So what do I need to worry about? I have decided I am leaving all of my fear and concerns at my Father’s feet.  He’s got this.

Look at the birds.

Why should I get stressed about politics and the election today?  God is in control. He’s got this.

Look at the birds.

God provides everything I need.  If I worry about the economy, this just indicates I need to grow my trust in God. My real security is in God.

Look at the birds.

The only wise and logical response when I feel anxiousness growing about issues like the mental health crisis and all the other scary stuff going on is to pray about it and be confident that God is working all things out for the good of those who love him.  He promised – it’s true.

Look at the birds.

Jesus says to you and me today, “Can anyone of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matt 6:27)

No.  The answer is obvious.  Worrying and anxiety are a waste of time and energy.  Let’s use this time and energy loving God and loving people. 

When you start to forget how much God cares for you –

Look at the birds.

What Am I Supposed to do?

On By Judy GlasserIn OctoberLeave a comment

When the path right in front of me looks like its straight up hill.

When the issue confronting me is big

and confusing

and scary

and heart-breaking.

When I am threatened on all sides by more problems, more sadness, more darkness.

What am I supposed to do?

please-strengthen-my-hands

Nehemiah found himself in this type of situation and he turned to God, praying, “Now strengthen my hands.”(6:9)

Nehemiah had groups of powerful people plotting against him as he led the Jews in rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem.  His enemies were trying to frighten the Jews so their hands would become too weak to continue to work on the wall.  But God answered Nehemiah’s prayers and the wall was eventually finished.

Is there something in your life that looks like its impossible to accomplish?  Impossible to fix?

Give it to God.  Ask him to strengthen your hands and then trust that he is answering.  He may use you like he did Nehemiah to actually orchestrate the answer.  Or  he may want your strong hands to be folded in prayer before him, admitting your dependence on him and remaining faithful while he works all things out for your good.

Either way,  God’s got this.

Please strengthen my hands, Abba Father.

I’ve Got Your Back

On By Judy GlasserIn OctoberLeave a comment

It takes a team to get something big accomplished.  One person can only do what one person can get done.

I have discovered when a group of people join energy and brainpower to tackle a goal together, their efforts are multiplied and good things happen. Have you experienced this? I’ve seen big successes roll in when a team of people are engaged, committed to working together and helping each other achieve a goal.

And when God is involved I have seen a supernatural factor come into play that is truly astounding to witness.  Projects turn out much better than planned.  Blessings pile up.  We see our faith growing as, together, we experience the power of God in our lives.

Has this happened to you? I’ve experienced this many times and its exciting every time it happens.

So I love reading the historical account of Nehemiah leading the Israelites in rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem.  The Jews were being attacked regularly by their enemies who didn’t want them to complete the wall.  They were very discouraged.

Nehemiah refused to stop building.  He knew that he had been sent by God back to Jerusalem to lead this project so he couldn’t stop.  He organized the men into teams, “From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bow and armor. Nehemiah 4:16. They protected their brothers with everything they had.

Working together,

protecting each other,

they accomplished the goal of rebuilding the wall.

They could not have done it without each other.

Our Spiritual family is like this.  We need each other.  Each one of us needs to use our spiritual gifts in order to build each other up and fulfill our purpose of reaching others for Christ. We watch each other’s backs – loving and forgiving each other in supernatural ways.

And we love those who don’t know Jesus yet…

while our Spiritual family supports us and cheers us on.

We can do this, because God first loved us…

and He has our backs.

Lay It Down

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

I’ve been there – a place where there’s no way out. When there is nothing I can do to even try to fix it.

A total dead end.

This is when the only way out is up.

King Hezekiah knew all about this place thousands of years ago when a huge Assyrian army came to Jerusalem and camped right outside the city walls. The Assyrian King told Hezekiah that the LORD had told him to destroy Jerusalem.

God has told him to destroy Jerusalem? What?

King Hezekiah was wise enough to recognize a big lie when he heard it so he went to the prophet Isaiah to get the truth. The Lord told Isaiah that King Hezekiah should not be disturbed by what the Assyrians were saying –  God was going to move against them himself.

Next, the Assyrians send a letter warning King Hezekiah that he should not be deceived by God’s promises to protect him.  (There were serious mind games going on here.) The Assyrians had been completely destroying everyone in their path and that’s what the Assyrian king was planning to do to Jerusalem.

King Hezekiah knew that was exactly what the Assyrians had been doing – destroying everyone and everything and no one had been able stop them.

So Hezekiah took the Assyrian’s letter to the temple and spread it out before the Lord.  He laid out his concerns to God and asked him to rescue them so that all the nations of the world would know that he was God.

I visualize Hezekiah on his knees spreading out this scroll full of scarey and deadly threats.  Then he lays himself down on the floor in front of the scroll as he asks God to save his people.

How interesting – he doesn’t summon the commander of his army.  He doesn’t consult with anyone.  He and his people are facing annihilation and he prostrates himself before God.

I’ve been there several times in my life – when there is no way out but up.   Faced with massive issues that were extremely beyond my control, I have laid it all out before God and asked him to take care of it.  I didn’t know how he would do it and I told him I didn’t care what he did – I was just placing it all in his hands and trusting in his promise that he is working all things out for my good.

I’ll never forget the times I have laid facedown on the floor, asking God to move, begging for an answer, telling him I wanted his will to be done in my life. One time I had to make a significant decision TODAY so I asked God to give me a direction. As I finished praying and was getting up off the floor, my phone rang and I knew it was God. Well, it wasn’t actually God, it was a person that God was using to give me an answer. At the end of the conversation, the decision I needed to make was clear.

It works for me just like it worked for Hezekiah thousands of years ago.  God heard Hezekiah’s prayer and took care of the situation. God always hears my prayers and he answers by orchestrating situations in his way with his power to benefit me.

I have discovered I don’t have big issues for long because I have a huge God.

His Whispers

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

If I’m not careful, I’ll miss it.

God speaking to me.

Just like with Elijah, God doesn’t speak to me in a terrible blast of flying rocks or in an earthquake or in a fire.  “”The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’  Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was no in the wind.  After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.  After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was no in the fire.  And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”  1 Kings 19:12

God often speaks to me in a whisper – a faint breeze of truth and light that flits through my mind.  I have to stop, concentrate and reach out to catch it.

If I’m not careful, it’s gone. If I’m not purposefully opening up my spiritual eyes and mind, the spark moves on.  And I’m left wandering, ‘When God is going to answer my prayer?   When will I see him move?’

Do you ask yourself these questions?  Are you listening for his whispers?

When I am quiet,

when I am focused,

when I don’t let distractions derail my time with God, I hear him loud and clear.

God’s Word is alive – he will underline passages (you wouldn’t see it but I do), he will change the font of a sentence to bold to get my attention or he will read the words to me in my head to make sure it’s his voice I hear, not my own or anyone else’s.

There are situations where he simply opens up my eyes to how he has already answered my prayer.  He has taken care of the issue and moved on.  Keep up, Judy!

That’s when I realize how much I miss when I’m not quiet,

when I’m not ‘zoned in” enough to hear the whispers and feel his breeze of truth ruffling the pages of my Bible.

Please open my eyes, open my ears, Abba Father.

Psalm 57, 2024

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

Hear my prayers, Father, and show me your compassion.  I will hide myself in your shadow until my fears and worries go away.

I ask that you fulfill your purposes for my life.  I know the angels of heaven are fighting my battles and they will give me victory.

Your love and faithfulness never leave me, Father.

I am surrounded by the evil one who is trying to take pieces of me and devour me.

But I still praise you, God.  May your glorious light shine over all the earth.

My enemy sets traps for me – especially when I am weary and distressed.  The evil one digs deep pits in my path but then he falls into them himself.

I am confident in you, oh God.  My heart sings your praises.  I awake every morning with a song of praise to you.  Thank you for your love and faithfulness which has no end.

I praise you, Father.  May your glorious light shine over all the earth.

I Know That Voice

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

Little Samuel’s story in the Bible is one my favorites.

He heard a voice calling to him in the night and he thought is was the Prophet Eli since he was living with Eli.  So Samuel got out of bed and ran to Eli saying, “Here I am”.

But Eli said, “I did not call, go back and lie down.”

This happened again and then the third time, Eli realized that it was God who was calling the boy.  This time Eli told Samuel, when he heard the voice, to say, “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:9.

When God spoke again, Samuel told him he was listening and God went on to tell Samuel what was soon going to happen.

I’ve got a challenge for you.  The next time you think you might be hearing something from God, say those same words, “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.”  And then listen.  Listen to what is going through your brain.  Think about what you have been reading in God’s Word and how it applies to your life.  Think about coincidences that have been happening in your life and how they relate to what you’ve been reading.  Remember things that Godly people in your life have said to you recently.

I believe God is regularly trying to break through the cacophony of our culture – especially the electronic bubble where we spend a lot of our time.  He is trying to talk to you and me – guiding us, encouraging us, and teaching us.

Have you had the experience where you are reading God’s Word and suddenly a sentence seems to stick out of the page? It almost looks like it’s in bold print? You reread a phrase a couple of times?  You start to wonder what this means in your life?  Has that phrase always been there?  I don’t remember ever reading that or even hearing anyone talk about that before?  That is God stopping us.  That is God drawing our attention to something specific in his Word so he can speak to us.

That’s what God did today with me.  He stopped me as I was reading to remind me how much I like young Samuel’s story.  Because I know God, I know he is encouraging me to continue to learn how to hear him more and more clearly as I read his Truth.  My knowledge of God is growing and the more I know him, the better I hear him.

How can I be confident that it’s God that’s talking to me and not just my own thinking?  What God says to me will always be consistent with what he says in the Bible.  He will not contradict himself. One of the reasons I’m reading the entire Bible for the 14th consecutive year is this habit helps me stay connected to how God speaks, what he values, and how he moves in people’s lives.

I am also 100% sure it’s God talking when he says something I’ve never thought of before and it’s consistent with what I have read in the Bible.  God confirms his guidance to me through my circumstances as well.  When it’s God talking to me, things happening around me will line up with what God is saying.  Sometimes it will be something my husband, my pastor or a friend says.  As I pray about what God is telling me, God will often open up my eyes to how he is moving around me and I’m able to connect the dots.

When I take time to consider all of these things, God’s directions to me become really clear.

When I work at staying aware of the fact that God is trying to talk to me, it’s not hard to hear him.

I hear you, Abba Father

I Need a Reminder

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

You need a reminder.

We forget.

We get distracted.

We start focusing on ourselves (again) and we forget that the Holy Spirit lives within us and that God wants to be involved in every part of our lives.

We could really use a reminder like God gave the Israelites.  ” The LORD said to Moses, ‘Make two trumpets of hammered silver, and use them for calling the community together and for having the camps set out. When both are sounded, the whole community is to assemble before you at the tent of meeting.  If only one is sounded, the leaders – the heads of the clans of Israel – are to assemble before you.” Numbers 10: 1, 2.

God gave Moses a whole system of communicating to the huge crowd of Israelites with trumpets which included telling them when to go into battle, when and how they broke camp and even when it was time to celebrate.  Different trumpet blasts gave the different instructions but each blast reminded them that God was with them.  He was in charge.  He was taking care of things.

Sometimes we could really use a trumpet blast today, couldn’t we?  We’d love a loud reminder that God is with us.

I have learned that developing good spiritual habits is the best way for me be constantly plugged in to God so I don’t forget that God is in charge and he is taking care of everything.

* Regularly reading and studying my Bible, applying God’s word to my life.

* Talking with God often and then listening, expecting a reply.

* Regularly participating in worship with my spiritual family.

* Regularly meeting with other Christians for Bible study – encouraging each other and growing together as we walk this path of faith.

Each one of these habits is like a trumpet blast – reminding me that the Spirit of God is alive within me and he is in the process of transforming me to be more like Jesus.

Thank you for your trumpet blasts, Abba Father.

Where do we go?

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

Where do we go when we’re in trouble?

Who do we turn to when something bad happens to us?

Most of us will turn to God at these times.  Even if we’ve never prayed before, we will often give it a try when the situation is bad enough.

When we’re in big trouble, we find it’s worth a couple of minutes to float up a prayer or 2, asking God to save us.

God tells us in Jeremiah 2 that the Israelites were doing the same thing.  The people had turned their backs on God – until they got into trouble.  Then they would ask God to save them from their terrible situation.July 25 2016 who do we go to

Why do people do this?

Because underneath all the lies that have been fed into our brains, we recognize our Creator.

We sense his power and activity in our world.

Even when we know nothing else about him, we hear his voice in our heads.  We call it our ‘conscience’.  But our conscience has a name – God.

And, it’s true that his voice gets more and more faint the farther we get from God.

Even so, when we’re in trouble, when we’re in a situation where we have no control, we know who does.

And we naturally turn to him.

If that’s the only time we go to God, we are really missing it!

We are missing the strength he can give us to live our lives with purpose everyday.

We miss the love God can shower on us each day as he walks closely beside us.

We miss the grace God has for us as we make mistakes, learn from them and grow.

We miss the joy God can give us as he fills our lives with his truth and light.

We miss the wisdom God can give us so can make good decisions – choosing the best path for our lives.

If you are missing any of these things in your life, today is a good day to turn your face towards God and grow your daily personal relationship with him.

He will still be there when you’re in trouble.  He will actually be closer and you’ll be able to hear him better.

And you won’t be missing all of the blessings he has for you each day.

Today is a great day to make that decision.

You have nothing to lose.

We love you, Abba Father.

 

Sound the Trumpet

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

The Israelites were reminded that God was with them when the trumpet sounded.  Different trumpet blasts were used to communicate various messages to them.feb 7 2015 Sound the trumpets

One of the blasts told them the leaders were supposed to gather.  Another told them the whole community was supposed to congregate.  A different blast told them to pick up their tents and start moving.  Another one was used when they were going into battle.  Or, at festival time, the trumpets were blown over their burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.

In all of these situations the trumpet sound reminded them that God was with them.

Sometimes we could really use a trumpet blast today, couldn’t we?  We’d love a loud reminder that God is with us.

We forget.

We get distracted.

We start focusing on ourselves (again) and we forget that the Holy Spirit lives within us and that God wants to be involved in every part of our lives.

Developing good spiritual habits is the best way for us to be constantly plugged in to God so that we don’t wander into ‘me’ land.

* Regularly reading and studying our Bible, applying his word to our lives.

* talking with God often and then listening, expecting a reply.

* Regularly participating in worship with our spiritual family.

* Regularly meeting with other Christians – encouraging each other and growing together as we walk this path of faith.

Each one of these habits is  trumpet blast – reminding us that God is alive within us and he is very busy transforming us to be more like Jesus.

Thank you for our trumpet blasts, Abba Father.